What If Life Is Like a Movie Theater? Choose Your Show Carefully

Imagine that you’re at the local movie cinema. You’re in a dark room, munching on popcorn, enjoying Raya and the Last Dragon with your kids. But in the room next to yours, people are sitting on the edge of their seats, hearts pounding, as they watch The Amityville Horror. And yet, a little further down the hall, another set of people are watching the action-packed James Bond movie, No Time to Die.

All of these movies are happening at the same time (more or less), yet your experience during that time frame depends on which movie you choose to see.

What if we could think of life like a movie theater? There are a lot of different plots and stories happening all at the same time but we get to choose where we put our attention. Are you going to choose to go to a feel-good show? A thriller? A comedy?

Just to be clear, I’m not suggesting we should ignore the bad things in our world. But if that’s the main “show” we watch, we will spend our days feeling frustrated and upset. There are many good aspects of life we can tune into. 

For example, I was recently on a Zoom call with hundreds of other PQ coaches from around the world for a monthly Q & A training session with Shirzad Chamine. After 90 minutes of hearing from so many people who are excited to help others and change the world for the better, I couldn’t help but feel optimistic about humanity. If I look for it, I can find many groups who are not only supporting others, but they’re also growing in size!

What “movies” do you spend the most time watching? Guard your time and mind carefully! They are precious resources! What you give your attention to determines the quality of your life.

This post was inspired by the author Michael Singer and his quote,

“It’s not about what life is doing; it’s about what you are doing with what life is doing.”